The Settlers' Museum

We went to The Petone Settlers' Museum to learn more about the olden days. We were delighted to have the hands on experience of sitting in the replica cabin in steerage. It was very cramped! We also saw a piece of Tova's family history.

Making Butter

   



We had a go at making butter out of cream. In the olden days they used to make it from the cream on top of the milk and churn it in a butter churn. We used a jar as our churn and we had to shake the jar really hard. We took a peek every so often to see how it had changed after so many shakes. At the end we poured off the whey and used the butter to spread on pikelets we made in the classroom. A real old fashioned treat.

Going Back In Time

Today we dressed-up in clothes from the 1800s and 1900s. We pretended that we were at school in those times and behaved accordingly. We had a great day and the children learnt about what school was like and how important it was to behave and follow the rules. They sat in rows, wrote on blackboards, chanted times tables and learnt to obey the strict rules of the times. Enjoy our video.

Grandparents Day

Last term we had a fantastic Grandparent's Day. We had a lot of fun and the children showed their grandparents around the classroom and shared some of their work with them. each grandparent drew a flower for our Grandparent's Garden. they also created a wishing star for each of the special children in our classroom.

Going Back In Time At Pataka Museum 

On Monday Room 7 and Room 10 went to Pataka Museum. We went to the special museum classroom and learnt all about life in the 1800s. The children took part in 4 different activities. These were: Dressing up in period costumes

                                         Washing and Ironing

                                          Printing on slate boards and with ink pens

                                          A matching game matching modern and 19th century items and                                                     comparing them

Thanks to our three parent helpers: Anita and Daniel Woodgate and Deborah Blythen for there fantastic involvement in the activities. It was a great experience for the children and all the activities were hands on and very interesting. The photos below show you what the children experienced. They were all highly engaged in their learning and fun was had by all.

At the End of the Day

One of the reading groups read this story for their guided reading and asked if we could have a go at doing this activity. So late on Friday afternoon I read the story to the whole class while the children made their own circle and followed the directions of what to do. There was a lot of laughter and some children found it very ticklish to have someone write on their back.

Fabulous Fractions

This week we have been learning about fractions. Food is a fantastic way to explore fractions. We first used fairy bread to explore halves, quarters and eigths.

 Then on Friday we cut pizzas as part of our Syndicate time. We found out that each piece or fraction of a whole pizza or piece of bread had to be the same size or else it would not be fair.